Why do some animals, like sharks and crocodiles, have such powerful immune systems that they rarely get sick or develop cancer, and could we learn from them to improve human health?

Question

Why do some animals, like sharks and crocodiles, have such powerful immune systems that they rarely get sick or develop cancer, and could we learn from them to improve human health?

In: 9649

Answer 1

I believe that sharks “not getting cancer” is a myth. Sharks and other animals do get sick. Here is the difference, in nature you don’t last long when you are sick, you become food and disappear. So you have a selection bias here. Sick things disappear quick, so all you typically see are the sharks or animals that remained healthy. All that said some of these aquatic creatures do have ways to prevent cancer. In some cases it actually has to do with their genes. Some genes play a role in preventing cancer, and if I recall correctly, things like whales have more of them than people. So it isn’t the immune system so far as we can tell.